Mayor Gavin Newsom and TK at the World Environment Day dinner at Union Square Ran on: 06-10-2005
When former progressive Supervisor Matt Gonzalez, left, lost the mayor's race to then-colleague Gavin Newsom, the left was dealt a setback. less

Mayor Gavin Newsom and TK at the World Environment Day dinner at Union Square Ran on: 06-10-2005
When former progressive Supervisor Matt Gonzalez, left, lost the mayor's race to then-colleague Gavin ... more

Photo: Jose Marco For Thomas J. Gibbons

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U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., left, smiles with San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, right, during a meeting with Silicon Valley business leaders in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, April 14, 2004 to discuss the flagging local economy, offshore outsourcing of jobs, tax issues and Internet access programs affecting the technology industry. Feinstein also talked about the latest developments in Iraq, the Sept. 11 Commission hearings and the growing federal deficit. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales is urging Washington to keep the BART project on track. ALSO RAN: 07/07/2004 Ran on: 10-10-2004
Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, right, are powerful U.S. senators from California. Ran on: 10-13-2004
Ron Gonzales Ran on: 01-19-2005
Mayors Gavin Newsom of San Francisco (left) and Ron Gonzales of San Jose and the cities they represent receive $24.4 million and $12.1 million, respectively, in the threatened federal block grant funds. Ran on: 01-19-2005
Mayors Gavin Newsom of San Francisco (left) and Ron Gonzales of San Jose and the cities they represent receive $24.4 million and $12.1 million, respectively, in the threatened federal block grant funds. Ran on: 02-10-2005
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales delivered an upbeat State of the City speech. Ran on: 05-05-2005
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales came to San Francisco's aid after his city lost the competition. Nation#MainNews#Chronicle#6/8/2004#ALL#5star##0421718306 less

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., left, smiles with San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, right, during a meeting with Silicon Valley business leaders in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, April 14, 2004 to discuss the ... more

Photo: PAUL SAKUMA

BAY AREA / Close rivals: Mayors mindful of region's interdependence

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Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown is trying to keep the A's in town, while San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales wouldn't mind stealing the team away. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom champions a gay civil rights issue, putting his counterparts in the other two cities on the spot.

The mayors of the Bay Area's three biggest cities have a complicated relationship, at once beholden to their own constituents and to the realities of governing in a compact region united by high housing costs, a Democratic majority, transportation problems, a roller-coaster economy and one of the nation's most ethnically and racially diverse populations.

Their impressions of that relationship and of the roles they each play as mayor emerged in a joint interview with reporter Hank Plante that is scheduled to air at 7 tonight on CBS 5-TV.

"Bay Area Mayors: In the Public Eye," which was taped last week, offers an unusual glimpse at the three, showing that what one does often affects the others.

Take, for instance, Newsom's Care Not Cash homeless reform policy, which resulted in a 70 percent-plus reduction in his city's general assistance caseload. When the city offered homeless people housing and services in exchange for less cash aid and some opted to leave San Francisco, Oakland saw an impact, according to Brown.

"It looks like some more people are coming in," Brown said.

After Newsom defiantly granted same-sex couples the chance to marry in San Francisco last year, Gonzales was threatened with a recall. The reason: San Jose had extended its gay and lesbian city workers who got married in San Francisco the same benefits as married, heterosexual San Jose workers receive.

"The religious groups went nuts about it," Gonzales said. In the end, the recall's supporters backed off.

"You talk about the regional impact by one mayor on another. That could have been very interesting if they proceeded," Gonzales said.

In turn, if Gonzales succeeds in his quest to bring major-league baseball to San Jose, other cities could feel it -- especially if that team is the Oakland A's.

"We have the great weather," he said.

Brown jumped in quickly to note his city's baseball-friendly weather.

"We want to keep the A's," he said.

There are times, the mayors said, when rivalries can transform into teamwork, as during the battle this spring over which California city would host the state's new stem cell institute, which is seen as bringing jobs and boosting civic pride.

When San Francisco made the final cut and San Jose did not, Gonzales called Newsom to offer his full public support, hoping to keep the headquarters from ending up in Southern California.

All Democrats born in San Francisco, the three mayors spoke also of sharing many of the challenges most urban American mayors face: the sometimes conflicting demands for adequate police and fire protection, clean streets, well-tended parks, and economic, social and cultural opportunities for families to thrive.

"There's just so much humanity you run into," Brown, a former California governor, said in describing why he likes being mayor.

Newsom said it's a job that just doesn't let up. When he goes to a movie, he said, people come up to him wanting to know what he's doing about potholes and the homeless.

"You just can't escape it," he said was the downside of being mayor. "The compelling argument for it is that it's one of the most enabling jobs because you can make a difference."

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